Originally posted by toycar
View Post
HOWEVER, if Dodge decided to release a balls-out, full race-prepped SRT-4 making 350whp... complete with lightweight forged wheels, big brakes, a transmission with carbon synchronizers, and carbon fiber body panels... and they wanted $40k for it... would I be interested? Absolutely not. Why? Because it's an overpriced souped up Neon. It might be worth it to some (the new STi is pushing $40k... I believe it could even be optioned over $40k), but to me, if I'm spending that kind of money on a factory car, I want it to be either a true sports car... or a luxury car. No amount of modifications will make a cheapie car worth that much to me... and since I'm SURE there are marketing analysts that have considered this scenario, there are enough people that agree with me to keep it from happening.
I'd much rather get a fairly sporty cheapie car (say, $20,000), and have the option to upgrade it... either at the dealer, or via aftermarket companies. Plus, you can build these cars a la carte from the dealer, and the end result would be a pricetag that would very likely resemble what you would pay for a fully built model with no better options above it. Hell, you could have walked into a Dodge dealer and bought a brand new SRT-4... and told them to do every performance modification available before you even laid eyes on it. There you'd have your $35,000 SRT-4 making buttloads of power.
Also, with the SRT-4... all the factory-approved upgrades were Mopar performance parts. Essentially, Dodge's factory aftermarket. Almost every major automaker has their own performance division. It's nothing new. Ford's racing division was founded in 1901 (and Ford Racing will supply you with some pretty potent parts to upgrade your Mustang...)
Now, if Mazda put an additional $10,000 worth of modifications into an RX-8 to make it 350whp turbo... I'd be more interested in that. Why? Because that's a genuine sports car. To me, significant sporty modifications to a car that's purposely designed as a sports car make more sense to me.
That's one reason why I don't think $110,000 for a Corvette ZR1 is all that obscene, even though it doubles the price of a base Corvette. Would I pay it? Probably not (if I had enough money to even consider the option.) Would I buy a base Corvette and attempt to piece together the parts from the ZR1 that I like? Perhaps. Would a base Corvette suit my needs just fine? Probably.
I didn't intend for this to be so wordy...
But one last point. Hyundai. The Hyundai Genesis Coupe comes in 2 flavors. The V6 model, which is squatting on the doorstep of $30,000... and the turbo 4 cylinder model, which makes 80hp less, but costs $8000 less. Hyundai hasn't been shy about advertising the turbo model as being "tuner friendly". They made that car specifically for the crowd that wants to upgrade it. The V6 model is more for people that want the car as-is. The turbo car is underpowered, as to not compete with the V6... but it can be modified by someone that is into that. That $8,000 savings over the V6 could result in a car that makes more power than the V6 after modification. I don't know if Hyundai sells upgrades, but there are certainly aftermarket upgrades available... and the aftermarket will surely grow as companies embrace the platform.
Comment